The Things I Do
by Ally147
Summary: Conversation and late night cravings. Absurdly fluffy PokéShipping. AshxMisty


Yo, here's a short PokéShipping one shot. I suppose we can whack this into the same head-canon as my 'One Night' and 'One Morning' stories, though this isn't the sequel I intended.

More fluff here than I can reasonably manage. Enjoy :)

**DISCLAIMER:** I've written so damn many of these things I'm running out of ways to phrase it funny… not mine, not now, not ever.

'The Things I Do'

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Ash stared at the slender figure his wife cut under the covers of their bed. The contours of her body were bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight as she slept soundly, oblivious to the intruder in the doorway. He moved closer and leaned down to brush strands of fiery red hair from her pale skin where it made a striking contrast. He raised an eyebrow in amusement as her nose twitched under his light touch. Against his better judgment he slowly lowered himself to the bed, careful not to dip the mattress supporting her frame too much.

Slowly he trailed his fingers over the exposed skin of her arms, watching in fascination as goosebumps rose in their wake. In sleep she gave a tiny huff, rolling from her side onto her back and baring more skin to his gaze as her tee shirt rode up. He bit back a laugh as she spread out across their bed, lying now in the shape of a star.

Tentatively he reached out to stroke the soft skin if her stomach, the small swell of her four and a half month bump sitting perfectly under his hand. There was no movement yet, it was too early for that, but now that their baby was visible to the world, the reality of the situation was starting to dawn on him. He was going to be a father. There was going to be a person who relied on him for everything, who was going to look to him to show them right from wrong, and who was going to need him to protect them from all the nasties in the world and make everything better. And those realisations were beginning to scare the hell out of him.

"Hi Jellybean," he said softly, moving to lie between Misty's legs and resting his cheek on the bump. "How are you? I bet you're happy, all warm and nice and squishy in there."

Over the past few weeks it had become almost therapeutic to talk things over with the burgeoning bump, or Jellybean as it had come to be called. Sometimes their one-sided conversations took serious turns, causing Ash to become broody and introspective and question whether or not he was truly ready to become a parent, and sometimes they consisted of stories about his own childhood, and the things he wished for the prospective baby. So far they had covered a wide range of conversation topics, ranging from the merits of the potential starter Pokémon from each region (because as Master and devoted parent he _could_ acquire any starter his child wanted, though he didn't want his child growing up with a complex either…) to the fact that Ash himself was eighteen months old before he had started to walk, so how the hell was he going to teach that particular skill to his own child when he had been so lax about it?

"I was thinking today… actually I've been thinking about this a lot since your mum and I found out you exist," Ash began musingly. "I was thinking that I have absolutely no idea how to be a dad."

He shifted his body so he had a hand free to smooth over the bump. "I didn't have a dad, you see," he whispered as though imparting a great secret. "Not one that I can really remember anyway. So I'm kind of scared. What if I stuff up really early?" He gasped in horror. "Oh God, what if I drop you? Babies have soft spots on their head and even if I just dipped you a little or moved my hand a bit… it would be so easy! How did I not… Oh God Jellybean, your mum is going to kill me!"

Ash rubbed his eyes with his free hand and kissed the swell beneath his cheek as though to reassure it. "I probably won't drop you, but see? These are the things I should know! How can I be a good dad when I can't even keep the important stuff straight? I don't even know how to change a nappy, or even how to hold a baby right! The nurse is going to pass me off to you and I'm either going to drop you or throw you to your mum I'll be so scared!"

He sighed deeply. "I guess there's a lot to learn before you arrive, huh?"

"Ash?" asked a sleepy voice above him.

He smiled against her skin as a small, slender hand moved down to twine in his hair and scratch lightly over his scalp, calming him. "Who else would it be?" he asked teasingly. "Should I be concerned that you don't know what man would be in _our_ bedroom?"

"Idiot," she muttered affectionately. "Why did you come up? Is your mum gone?"

Ash dropped another kiss to her belly and crawled slowly back up the bed, moving to lie beside his wife. "She left an hour or so ago," he confirmed. "She said she'll bring you my old cradle tomorrow if you still want to see it."

Misty yawned and smiled sleepily before nodding. "I quite like the idea of our baby sleeping in your old bed."

"So did she," Ash said with a chuckle. "She's more excited by this baby than we are."

"Are you though?"

Ash looked up quickly, surprised at the question, to find Misty peering at him questioningly through the dark. "Of course I am!" he answered truthfully. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I hear you at night, Ash, when you talk to the baby," she admitted, scoffing as his jaw dropped. "Don't give me that look! You aren't exactly quiet and for God's sake, you're right there! It would have been a bigger shock if I didn't hear you."

"Just because I'm a little worried about things doesn't mean I'm not excited, 'cause I am," he pointed out after taking a moment to decide whether or not Misty listening in to his conversations with Jellybean constituted some sort of breach of trust. "I'm sure you're nervous too."

"All the more reason you should actually talk to me about it then!" She sat up and took his hand. "I'm terrified about becoming a mother," she confessed lowly.

Ash looked at her aghast. "But you'll be a perfect mum Mist! You had all those baby Pokémon, and kids love you! How could you think you wouldn't?"

Misty sighed. "Same way you don't think you'll be a good dad. I have no one to base it on. But that doesn't mean I won't learn, and so will you! No one knows what they're doing their first time as parents Ash! It's perfectly normal to be nervous or unsure, or scared as hell. If you were being all cocky about it I'd be more concerned."

"So you're not that worried?" he asked sheepishly.

She sighed heavily. "I am more worried than I ever imagined being in this situation," she said wryly. "I just know that I will pick it up along the way. I can't possibly be this lost forever. Besides, I know your mum will be more than happy to help us."

"We'll be lucky if we can get her out of the house at night," Ash agreed with a chuckle.

"See, Ash?" Misty said as she snuggled closer to press a reassuring kiss to his lips. "We'll be fine. No one has the answers when they're four and a half months pregnant, not even the Pokémon Master. We learn together, just like everyone else."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, nuzzling his face in her hair and kissing her neck. "We learn together," he repeated, feeling far lighter than he had in a good long time.

"So," Misty said slyly a few moments later. "Jellybean, huh?"

Ash was grateful in that moment for the dark that hid his violent blush. "It sort of looked like a jellybean in your first ultrasound picture," he mumbled. "It stuck."

"I like it," she said with a smile. "If we aren't going to find out the gender then we need something to call it besides… well, _it_. And Jellybean is cute, much better than 'Peanut' or something like that, or 'Little Kidney' if we're just going by shape."

He murmured something she couldn't hear and nuzzled deeper into her neck.

"Oh, and by the way, you aren't going to drop the baby," she said dryly. "For one thing, I wouldn't let you and for another, you'll be handling a tiny little human Ash; _your_ tiny little human. You won't drop it."

Ash grinned at her words and looked back down at her stomach. "You're right."

"As usual," Misty said with a nod of finality. "Now that that's settled, you can go get me some fries."

He looked up too quickly and strained his neck. "Wait, what?"

"Fries, Ash! Those skinny potato chips you like so much! And I swear to God, if you bring back thick cut ones I will tear them into tiny pieces and shove them up your nose while you sleep."

"We don't have fries," Ash said slowly. "We only have the thick cut kind in the freezer."

Misty huffed impatiently. "Then go find some," she said irritably. "I'll still be here when you get back. Oh! And bring back vinegar! Lots and lots of vinegar."

"But Mist," he whined, "It's nearly midnight! Where am I meant to find fries?"

"Most of those places you like are open twenty-four hours," she informed him primly as she closed her eyes. "I'm not as well versed in fast food as you are, so I'll leave where you get them entirely in your hands. Don't worry about me, I'll wait."

"But… but you hate fast food!"

"Ash," Misty breathed with mock sadness, propping herself up on her pillows. "Your pregnant wife wants fries. And vinegar. Are you really going to make her go without?"

Ash eyed her suspiciously. "This is one of those insane pregnancy cravings my mum told me about, isn't it?"

"It's not insane!" Misty said defensively. "And even if it was, what did your mum tell you about my pregnancy cravings?"

He sighed and hung his head. "She said if I value my life and marriage at all I'll get you whatever you want, whenever you want and I won't bitch and moan about it, and that if I said no to any of your requests and you didn't kill me first then she would."

"She's a smart one, your mum," Misty said brightly.

"She loves you more than she loves me," he grumbled.

"And when Jellybean is born, she'll love him or her more than either of us, but that isn't the issue here. What I'm more concerned about is why you aren't currently in the car, on your way to buying me my damn fries!"

Ash sighed as he stood to leave. "I'm going, I'm going."

"And those fries better not be cold when you get back, because I will send you out again if they are!"

"Yes, dear."

"And don't you dare forget the vinegar!"

"Of course I won't."

"Oh, and –"

"Do you want your stupid fries or not?" Ash cut in loudly from where he leaned on the door frame.

"Please." She smiled apologetically.

Ash shook his head and rolled his eyes playfully. "The things I do for you…"

Misty sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I haven't asked you to fetch me weird food yet, Ketchum! Don't act like I do this every night!"

"Oh, but this is just the beginning," he said dramatically. "First it's fries from the place across town, next thing we know you're sending me off to Mahogany Town in the middle of the night for one of those RageCandyBars we can't get here."

"And since you're such an amazing, caring husband, you'd actually go," she replied with a smile. "I love you, Ash."

His eyes softened as he replied, "I love you too Mist."

"I know," she said warmly. "And, Ash?" she called as he disappeared from the doorway.

He sighed loudly and poked his head back around. "What?" he asked pointedly.

Misty smirked and settled herself amongst the propped up, fluffy pillows. "If you want fries then get your own; I'm not sharing."

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**AN: **As much as I love EgoShipping (and I dearly love EgoShipping...), PokéShipping flows much better for these sorts of fluffy stories! For those interested, I have two EgoShipping stories half done, one funny and one angsty (read; frickin' depressing), and another PokéShipping one that should be done and up soon, not to mention the STSS sequel which looks like it'll be going up around New Years.

For my American friends and anyone else I may have confused with my Aussie terminology- nappy=diaper and cradle=crib.

Anyway, reviews are pretty much the best things ever!


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